Distributing valve



Sept; 21, 1943. w. L SMITH DISTRIBUTING VALVE Filed Aug. 17, 1942 2Sheets-Sheet l Sept. 21, 1943. w s T v 2,330,151

DISTRIBUTING VALVE Filed Aug. 17, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR W551.E) A JM/m Patented Sept. 21, 1943 DISTRIBUTING VALVE Wesley L. Smith,Bedl'ord, Va., assignor to Bendix Aviation Corporation, South Bend,Ind., a corporation of Delaware Application August 17, 1942, Serial No.455,117

6 Claims.

This invention relates to fluid distributing systams and moreparticularly to a valve for distributing a fluid such as air.

Ice eliminating systems for aircraft have followed several trends ofdesign in the mechanism for controlling the air flow to the inflatablerubber elementsof an ice control system. A particular system isexemplified in the Gregg Patent 1,990,866, and the present invention isdirected particularly to improvements in the air distributing mechanismfor a system similar to that disclosed in the Gregg patent.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a fluid distributingvalve wherein the fluid flow may be directed from an inlet to any of aplurality of fluid outlets in accordance with a cycle controlled by apredetermined difierential of pressure between fluid outlets.

It is another object of the invention to provide a distributing valveincluding an oscillating vane member confined within a rigid chamberhaving a flexible end wall, wherein distribution of fluid is controlledby the movement of said vane memher under control of a latchingarrangement governed by the differential of pressure between two or moreoutlet branches of the system.

A further object of the invention includes the provision of a novelarrangement of an oscillatory vane member in combination with severaloutlet relief valves for controlling the distribution of fluid inaccordance with the pressure difierential between two outlet conduits.

Additional objects of the invention will become apparent from aconsideration of the following specification along with the attacheddrawings, throughout which like reference numerals are used to designatelike parts.

Fig. l is a plan view of an aircraft with parts broken away to show atypical installation of a fluid valve of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective of one form of valve of the present invention,

Fig. 3 is a perspective, from a different quarter, of the valve shown inFig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the valve member shown inFigs. 2 and 3.

Figs. 5, 6 and '7 are schematic representations of the same fluiddistributing valve, showing the valve in different portions of'a typicalcycle of operation.

In an ice eliminating system utilizing infla able boot elements as shownand described in the above-identified Gregg patent, the distributingmechanism is a motor-driven rotary valve which is continuously rotatedthrough adefinite cycle of operation. In accordance with the presentinvention, no external motor or engine is required to control the cyclicdistribution of air to the different boot elements and the distributionis controlled wholly by determined pressure diflerential values betweentwo outlet conduits of the distributing valve, and the distributingvalve itself is operated directly by the pressure of the air or theother fluid being distributed.

In a typical installation of the valve of the present invention, Fig. 1shows an aircraft l0 having wing members II and l2, the leading edges ofwhich carry inflatable boot elements l3 and M, respectively. Additionalboot elements 15 and I6 are carried upon the leading edges of the tailsection I! of aircraft l0. Other boot elements may be applied if desiredto other leading surfaces of the craft, although for an understanding ofthe present invention, a showing of further boot installation isunnecessary.

The aircraft engine drives a conventional air pump 18 having an inlet l9and a conduit 20 which is connected between the outlet of pump l8 andthe distributing valve member 2|. Valve member 2| has two separateoutlet conduits 22 and. 23. Conduit 22 is connected by means of tubingor piping 24 to the boot members l3 and I4. Conduit 23 is connected bytubing or piping 25 to the boot members l5 and I6. Air will thus bedistributed to the wing and tail surface boots .in definite cycles. Theparticular network of air distribution is unimportant to a considerationof the present invention and need not be further discussed.

The details of structure of one embodiment of the present invention areset forth in Figs. 2, 3 and 4. Conduit 20, which is connected to theoutput of the air pump I8, is connected by means of a conventional screwthreaded union to the inlet port 26, which communicates with an airinlet chamber 21. Chamber 2'! communicates through a throat 28 (formedby the presence of the fillets 29 and 30 within chamber 21) with a largesector-shaped distribution chamber 3|. This chamber has radiallyextending, rigid end walls 32 and 33, and flat side walls 34 and 35,which may be integral with walls 32 and 33 or secured thereto with afluid-tight seal. Chamber 3| is closed at the top by means of flexible,and preferably metallic, ribbons 36 and 31, one end of each of which isattached to the end wall 32 or 33 by means of rivets or screw members38. A protective metallic dome or cover 39 is attached by stud members44 to the top of end 'walls 32 and 33 and has a large aperture 40therein for exposing the flemble walls 38 and 37 to atmosphericpressure.

A fiat piston or vane member M is pivoted at 52 to a shaft 83 extendingtransversely through the chamber 3| and extending to the outside of thehousing of valve 2|. Flemble wall members 35 and 31 are connected byrivets 45 to opposite faces of vane 4| at the top thereof. Vane member4| extends downwardly to the curved tops of the fillets 25 and 35. Thesliding flt between the edges of the vane 4| and the side walls 34 and35 of the distributing valve is close, to minimize the leakage of airpast the vane during operation thereof.

Outlet conduits 22 and 23 open into chamber 3| from opposite end walls32'and 33. These conduits connect through conventional coupling memberswith the tubes or piping elements 24 and 25. Conduits 22 and 23 havevalve apertures 45 and 55 and relief valves and 52 pivoted at 53 and 54,so that apertures 55 and 5| may be opened to relieve air pressure inconduits 22 and 23 or closed to prevent loss of air through apertures 45and 55 in the manner to be described later.

Shaft 43 carries two arm members exteriorly of the housing of valve 2|.One of these arms 55, extends upwardly within the plane through whichthe surface of vane 4| would pass if projected. This arm is keyed toshaft 43 and may be secured by a cotter-pin 55 as shown. Arm 55terminates at its upper end in an outwardly turned lip 51, having anaperture through which one end of a helical spring 55 is looped. Theopposite end of spring 55 is hooked to a pin member 55, extending fromthe housing of valve 2| at a distance below the shaft 43 and in thevertical plane passing through shaft 43. Spring 55 is under continuoustension and it will be understood from an observation of Fig. 3 thatvane member 4| will be normally urged toward either of end walls 32 and33 by the action of spring 55, but that it will not be possible for vane4| to stop at the dead-center or vertical position of its travel fromone end of chamber 3| to the other.

The second arm 55, carried by shaft 43 on the opposite end thereof, isfixed to the shaft so that it will be turned therewith, and it will benoted that arm 55 extends downwardly and radially from shaft 43, in theplane of the surface of vane 4|. Connecting rods 5| and 52 are pivotallyattached to the outer end of arm 55. These connecting rods extendangularly of arm 55 and have at their outer ends the respectiveelongated apertures or slots 53 and 54, in which ride pins 55 and 55,respectively, extending outwardly from the faces of relief valve members5| and 52. Coiled springs 51 and 55 have one end anchored to theconnecting rods 5| and 52, respectively, and their other ends anchored,under tension, to the respective pin members 55 and 55.

In the position shown best in Fi 2, vane 4| is held, under tension ofspring 55, at one end of compartment 3|, namely the end closest to wall32. In this position, arm 55 is at its extreme clockwise throw; thus pin55 is carried at the outermost end of the slot 53. For this same angularposition of arm 55, pin member 55 rests within the innermost end of slot54. The lost motion introduced by these slots permits relief valve 5| tobe held tightly closed and relief valve 52 to be held completely open.

It is understood, of course, that when relief valve 52 is open, as shownin 2, then air aseaisi which had been under pressure within boots I5 and55 will be vented to the atmosphere. and with valve 5| held tightlyclosed, then air within conduit 22 and boots l3 and 54 will be underpressure since there is direct communication between the input conduit25 and outlet conduit 22 with vane 4| in the position shown.

When arm 55 has been oscillated to its position of extremecounter-clockwise motion, as viewed from Fig. 2, valve 52 will be closedand valve 5| will be opened. Due to the action of spring 55 when arm 55begins its counter-clockwise motion, valve 52 will begin to close andwhen the arm has reached the limit of its counterclockwise motion, thevalve will be closed not only because of the tension of spring 55, butbecause slot 54 will have moved inwardly with respect to pin 55 untilthe pin is in the outermost end of slot 54. Valve 52 will therefore beheld tightly closed by connecting rod 52. When counter-clockwise motionof arm 55 is begun, valve 5| will not open immediately, since thetension of spring 53 will hold pin 55 from oscillating until connectingrod 5| has been moved almost to the end of its travel by arm 55, Pin 55will be thrust against the innermost edge of slot 54 and will causevalve 5| to quickly be pivoted to its open pontion. The same openingsequence of operations occurs upon clockwise motion of arm 55 with,however, valve 52 being considered instead of valve 5|.

The housing of valve 2| carries an integral ledge or platform 55, whichis shown best in Fig. 2. Upon this platform are secured the bottoms oftwo flexible metallic bellows I5 and II. Bellows 15 has a flat disc-liketop 12 which carries an upstanding wire connector 13 having an eyeformed, in its outer end, which is pivotally connected at I4 to link 15,which latter is pivotally connected at its center point I5 to thehousing of valve 2|. Bellows 1| has a flat disc-like top TI, to which isattached an upstanding wire connector 15, having an eye formed at theoutermost end thereof, which wire is pivotally connected at 15 to link15. A tubular fluid passageway 55 has one end connected to platform 55and in communication with the interior of be]- lows l5 and its other endopen to pressure within chamber 3|. A similar fluid passageway 5| hasone end connecting to platform 55 and its other end in communicationwith chamber 3|, so that the fluid pressure of chamber 3| may becommimicated to the interior of bellows I|.

At the outer extremity of arm 55 there is attached a pin 54, whichextends outwardly from arm 55 terminating above the pivoted link 15.Link 15 carries equally spaced upstanding stops or detents 52 and 53 atdifferent sides of the central pivot point 15. These stops are limitedin height so that with link 15 horizontally extending, pin member 54will clear the stop members 52 and 53 upon oscillation of arm 55. Stops52 and 53 are so located on link 15, however, that with one bellowscollapsed and the other expanded, the uppermost stop, 52 or 53 as thechance may be, will be directly in the path of pin 54 and will limitoscillation of'the pin. Stops 52 and 53, taken with pin 54, form alatching arrangement for vane 4|, the purpose of which will be set forthbelow.

The operation of the distributing valve above described will be readilyunderstood from a consideration principally of Figs. 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7.When the system is at'rest, no air under pressure will be entering valve2| through the conduit 25.

when the pilot wishes to start the inflation or the rubber boots, heopens on air valve, thus permitting air, under a pressure of about '7pounds, to now through conduit 20 into inlet chamber 21. Consideringvane 4| to be in the position shown in Fig. 4 at the beginning ofoperation, it will be apparent that air under pressure is deflectedthrough the right-hand portion of chamber 3| and output conduit 22 intothe tubing 24, and thence, of course, to boots l3 and H (see Fig. 1).

' Fig. 2 shows that with vane 4| at the extreme process, that portion ofvane 4| above shaft 43 will, due to the fact that the area of vane 4|above shaft 43 is much greater than the area of the vane below shaft 43,be moved to the left within chamber 3|. is kept closed and vane 4| willcontinue to move toward end wall 33 until the pin member 84 touches stopmember 83. This condition is illustrated in Fig. 5. During this portionof the travel of vane 4|, arm 60 has moved counterclockwise and hasdrawn connecting rod 62 inwardly so that pin 66 lies approximately inthe center oi. slot 54. valve 52 has closed due to the tension of spring68. Both valves 5| and 52 are now closed, and since the bottom portionof vane 4| has now cleared fillet 30 and is not yet contacting the topof fillet 29, air is being deflected into the lefthand portion ofchamber 3| and is beginning to increase the pressure within tubing 25andthe boots l5 and IE to which the tubing is connected.

This results, of course, in an increase of the pressure withinpassageway 80 and bellows 10, so that bellows I0 begins to expand. Thebottom portion of vane 4| has not yet reached the surface of fillet 29in the position shown in Fig. 5, so that air flows from output conduit22 as well as through throat 28 into output conduit 23, equalizing thepressure within conduits 22 and 23 and thus, within bellows I0 and II.

As soon as the'pressure in bellows and II is equalized, of course, pin84 clears the top of stop 83, and vane 4| completes its travel towardend wall 33 with a quick motion under the influence of spring 58. Fig. 6shows the condition of equal pressure in bellows I0 and H just after pin84 has cleared stop 83 and vane 4| has During this motion, valve 5| Thismeans, of course, that been snapped to the end of its travel by spring58. The motion of arm in moving from the position shown in Fig. 5 tothat shown in Fig. 6,

produces a quick opening of valve 5|, which is shown open in Fig. 6.

One-half the air distributing cycle is progressively represented inFigs. 4, 5 and 6. Boots I3 and I4 have been inflated, deflated and arenow under atmospheric pressure. As illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7, the airunder pressure enters chamber 3| through throat 28, and is now deflectedinto output conduit 23 to complete the inflation of boots l5 and I6.Since valve 5| is open, the interior of bellows II is at-atmosphericpressure and thus it collapses upon the expansion of bellows I0, whichis now under the pressure existing within output conduit 23. Link I5 isthus tilted to the position shown in Fig. 7 and stop 82 is now raised,so that as pressure builds up within conduit 23, the upper portion ofvane 4| will besin to move toward end wall 32 and motion of the vane ata point somewhat beyond the center position of its motion will bearrested by the engagement of pin 84 with stop 82. It is believed thatan understanding of the manner in which the cycle is completed will beunderstood from the above discussion.

The net effect of the distribution of air by the novel valve of thepresent invention is that without an-external driving source, such as anelectric motor, air is cyclically distributed to several boots in adefinite series. It makes no difference, of course, to the operation orthe valve, whether one or both wing boots are simultaneously inflated.Practically, of course, each of the boots, such as |3, may consist ofthree or more inflat-. able elements. Specific boot structure is clearlybrought out in the above-identified Gregg patent and other patentsrelating to similar ice eliminating systems.

air and against the tension of spring 58. Without the fillet members 29and 30, some air under pressure would be deflected to both sides of vane4| and might therefore lessen the total force available to move vane 4|past its center point..

Fillets 29 and 30 are provided so that for an appreciable initialangular motion of vane 4|, no air from chamber 21 will be misdirected tothe wrong side of vane 4|.

The novel distributing valve described is unique in that cyclicdistribution of air or otherfluid is obtained directly from the flow andpressure of the fluid to be distributed, rather than from an externaldriving force such as an electric motor., The resultant saving in weightand space is, of course, of prime importance to the use of such adistributing valve as a control for the distribution of air in an iceeliminating system for aircraft.

Only one embodiment of the invention has been described. Otherembodiments may occur to those skilled in the art, and it is intended,of course, that variations from the embodiment shown are to be includedwithin the invention, the scope of which is to be limited not by theparticular form of valve shown, but by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A distributing valve comprising a housing having an inlet chamber anda larger, sectorshaped chamber having two rigid end walls, two fiat sidewalls and a flexible wall extending between said rigid end walls andconnected to the outer extremities thereof, an outlet conduit formedbetween each of said rigid end walls and said inlet chamber, a vanewithin said housing and within said sector-shaped chamber, a shaftextending transversely of said flat side walls and journaled therein,said shaft being connected to said vane between said chambers, said vanehaving one end connected to said housing and another end connected tosaid other end of said arm member, a relief valve in each of said outletconduits, connecting rods between said relief valves and said shaft, andmeans subject to movement of said vane for alternately closing one andopenin: the other of said relief valves.

2. A distributing valve comprising a housing including a fluid inletchamber and a fluid distributing chamber, fluid outlet conduits openinginto opposite sides of said distributing chamber, a fluid exhaust valvepivotally carried in an ,apertured wall of each outlet conduit, a shaftextending'through said distributing chamber between said opposite walls,a vane member carried on said shaft, said vane member having a slidingflt within said distributing chamber, spring means for urging said vanetoward either of said opposite walls,- two flexible bellows car--v riedexternally of said housing upon a flxed base, said bellows havingcorresponding end walls movable under changes of fluid pressure, a linkmember extending between said bellows end walls, said link member havingits mid-point pivoted to said housing and carrying a stop member on eachside of said mid-point and spaced therefrom, an arm member flxed to saidshaft. lying in the plane of said vane and extending radially from saidshaft, connecting rods extending from said arm member to said fluidexhaust valves, and two fluid pressure connections, the flrst betweenone of said outlet conduits and one of said flexible bellows, the secondbetween the other of said outlet conduits and the other of said flexiblebellows, said connecting rods being so connected to said exhaust valvesas to hold one of said valves in open, and the other in closed conditionwhen said vane is at one or the other of said opposite walls,wherebmupon a predetermined fluid pressure differential existing betweensaid outlet conduits,

vane member within said distribution chamber flxed to said shaft, a linkpivotally connected to said shaft externally of said housing, detentscarried by said link, means carried by said vane member for engagingwith said detents, and pressure sensitive means carried by said housingfor oscillating said link and freeing said detent ensas s mean!!- 4; Adistributing valve comprising a housing having an inlet chamber and adistribution chamber, a shaft extending across said distributionchamber, a vane member within said distribution chamber and mounted uponsaid shaft, oppositely disposed outlet conduits opening into saiddistribution chamber, a relief valve in each of said outlet conduits,said valves being pivotally mounted in apertured portions of saidconduits, spring means for biasing said vane member toward either ofsaid outlet conduits, means operable upon oscillation of said vanemember for closing one and opening the other of said resaid vane will beoscillated through a portion 7 of its travel within said distributionchamber until said arm is engaged by one of said detent members and oneof said bellows has become flexed appreciably more than the otherto'move said link member to free said arm and permit said vane tocomplete its travel under control of said spring means and actuate saidconnecting rods to move one of said exhaust valves to open position.

3. A distributing valve comprising a housing containing adjacent inletand distribution chambers, an input conduit'opening into said inletchamber, outlet conduits opening into oppoaite sides of saiddistribution chamber. a relief valve in each of said outlet conduits, ashaft extending through said distribution chamber, a

lief valves, and pressure-regulated latch means for momentarilyrestricting the oscillation of said vane to a limited are against theaction of said spring means.

' 5. A distributing valve comprising a housing having adjacent input anddistribution chambers, outlet conduits connected to opposite sides ofsaid distributing chamber, a vane member pivoted for oscillation withinsaid distribution chamber and presenting an obstruction to flow betweensaid outlet conduits, relief valve" means in each of said outletconduits, latching means for arresting motion of said vaneintermediately of its path from one to the other of said outletconduits, andmeans subject to a determined pressure differential betweensaid outlet con- .duits to disengage said latching means and perhavingadjacent input and distributing chambers, outlet conduits connected todlflerent parts'

